Ex-employees of Samsung chip vendor indicted in tech theft case

Two former employees of Semes, a Samsung Electronics subsidiary and key semiconductor chip-related equipment supplier, have been indicted for their alleged involvement in technology theft. The two former Semes staffers were allegedly involved in selling crucial wafer cleaning machines -- believed to be identical to ones by Semes -- to an undisclosed Chinese entity, according to Suwon District Public Prosecutors’ Office on Tuesday. The pair and another two employees of a Semes’ suppl

May 17, 2022

Renault XM3 Inspire comes with better design, more tech

Renault Korea Motors has added a new trim called Inspire to its XM3 SUV, which has been lauded for its distinct, upscale design. Named after the show car unveiled at the 2019 Seoul Motor Show, XM3 Inspire comes in two colors -- cloud pearl and sonic red. The Inspire trim of the compact SUV features ventilated leather seats, heated rear seats, customized ceilings, a shield to minimize wind noise when driving at high speeds and small design touches such as red lines on the air curtain, side fend

May 17, 2022

Samsung Heavy wins W862.3b order for 3 LNG carriers

Samsung Heavy Industries Co., the world's No. 3 shipbuilder by order backlog, said Tuesday it has bagged a 862.3 billion-won (US$671 million) order to build three liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers in Africa. Samsung Heavy said it will construct those LNG carriers for an unidentified African shipper and deliver them by January 2026. The vessels will have top-of-the-line equipment, such as a membrane-type storage tank and a duel fuel gas engine, said Samsung Heavy, the shipbuilding arm of

May 17, 2022

Kakao Mobility partners with Miki Taxi for Guam service

Kakao Mobility Corp., South Korea's leading taxi-hailing company, said Tuesday it has forged a business partnership with Miki Taxi, a major taxi operator in Guam, to provide ride-hailing services in the Pacific territory. Through the partnership with Miki Taxi, which operates approximately 40 percent of all taxis in Guam, Kakao Mobility plans to offer mobility hail service on the island via its Kakao T application starting in the third quarter. The new Guam service will initially be limited

May 17, 2022

Efficiency of COVID-19 vaccination proven with breakthrough cases: researchers

South Korean researchers have added new evidence that mRNA vaccinations can prevent severe symptoms in breakthrough infections of omicron and other variants of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, the Institute for Basic Science said Monday. The research team led by Shin Eui-cheol, professor at KAIST graduate school of medical science and engineering, has analyzed the bloodwork of participants who received mRNA vaccine and those who were vaccinated after contracting COVID-19. The team found

May 17, 2022

Hyundai E&C to issue non-fungible tokens for 75th anniversary

Major South Korean builder Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. said Tuesday it will issue non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to celebrate the 75th anniversary of its foundation this year. To that end, Hyundai E&C recently signed a memorandum of understanding with local digital entertainment provider Sandbox Network on mutual exchange and cooperation in the NFT-metaverse sector. Hyundai E&C, the second-largest builder in Asia's fourth-largest economy, will become the first local industry player t

May 17, 2022

Air Seoul to resume Incheon-Boracay route next month

Air Seoul Inc., a South Korean low-cost carrier, said Tuesday it will resume the Incheon-Boracay route next month to meet pent-up travel demand amid eased virus curbs. Air Seoul will provide four flights a week on the Boracay route from June 17, the company said in a statement. On Saturday, the carrier resumed services on the Incheon-Guam route and will expand the number of flights from four to seven a week starting July 1, it said. With six A321-200 chartered planes, the carrier currently serve

May 17, 2022

Seoul shares open higher amid persistent rate hike woes

South Korean shares opened higher Tuesday on institutional buying despite persistent worries over inflation and aggressive monetary tightening in major economies. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 16.51 points, or 0.64 percent, to 2,613.09 in the first 15 minutes of trading. Overnight, US stocks ended mixed over the latest disappointing economic data from the US and China. Adding to investor anxiety is the Federal Reserve's monetary tightening to tackle inflation and the war in

May 17, 2022

Nearly 4 in 10 listed firms cut workforce in 2021 amid pandemic

Apartment buildings in Seoul (Yonhap)Almost 4 in 10 South Korean listed companies trimmed their workforce in 2021 from a year earlier amid the prolonged coronavirus pandemic, a private think tank said Tuesday. The Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI) said a survey of 1,874 firms listed on the country's main and minor bourses showed 43.1 percent slashing the number of their employees last year from 2020. Of the 696 businesses traded on the main KOSPI market, 294, or 42.2 percent, cut job

May 17, 2022

Top 500 firms' sales surpass W700tr in Q1

The combined first-quarter sales of major firms in South Korea surpassed the 700 trillion-won ($545 billion) mark for the first time on strong performances by chips, electronics, petrochemicals and auto manufacturers, a corporate tracker said Tuesday. The total top line of 344 out of South Korea's top 500 companies by sales came to 791.5 trillion won in the January-March period, up 19.6 percent from a year earlier, according to CEO Score. The 344 corporations cover those that have disclosed

May 17, 2022

Wealth gap between richest and poorest in 20s and 30s widens

The wealth gap between the richest Koreans in their 20s and 30s and their poorest peers increased more in 2021 than the previous year, a lawmaker said, citing data compiled by Statistics Korea. In 2021, the top 20 percent of wealthy Koreans in their 20s and 30s held 981.85 million won ($764,442) on average, 35.27 times that of the 27.84 million won held by the bottom 20 percent in the same demographic. That was an incremental increase from the 35.2 times in 2020, according to Rep. Kim Hoi-jae

May 16, 2022

Deduction range for gift tax may expand from W50m

SEJONG -- The Yoon Suk-yeol administration is considering easing the burden of gift tax by raising the upper limit of tax-free capital transfers from the current 50 million won ($38,900), documents from relevant ministries showed Monday. Currently, the authority does not levy gift taxes as long as parents or grandparents conduct capital transfer to their children or grandchildren within the limit of 50 million won per child. If the transfer exceeds 50 million won, the parents and grandparents

May 16, 2022

Audi, Volvo vie for No. 3 importer in Korea

Volvo is close to catching up to German automaker Audi, which kept its title as the third top selling foreign car brand in South Korea, data showed Monday. According to Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association, Volvo Korea sold a total of 1,332 units in April overtaking Audi Korea which sold 1,051 units the same month. Compared to sales in March, Volvo Korea saw a 1.8 percent on-month sales increase in April while Audi Korea’s sales dropped by 9 percent. In April, Volvo

May 16, 2022

[Newsmaker] Creator of Korean-made cryptos under siege after $37b wiped out

South Korean entrepreneur Do Kwon was a rising star of the global digital asset market when his company Terraform Labs launched the cryptocurrencies UST and luna with the goal of achieving a decentralized economy three years ago. His stardom reached its peak as the price of luna skyrocketed to over $119 early last month, becoming the first Korean-developed cryptocurrency to crack the top 10 list of cryptocurrencies with the highest market capitalization in the world. Some investors and i

May 16, 2022

Meet SKT’s new mobile virtual assistant A.

South Korea’s largest mobile carrier, SK Telecom, unveiled Monday an open beta version of a virtual assistant the company said is aimed at providing an “intimate” and “emotional” experience for Android mobile phone users. Named A., pronounced as “ay-dot,” the Korean-language virtual assistant takes on the appearance of a toddler in a raincoat. Powered by a natural language processing model, users will be able to initiate a conversation with the virtual

May 16, 2022

Corporate Korea bracing for Biden’s state visit

More chaebol groups are expected to join a business roundtable meeting held on the sidelines of summit talks between Presidents Yoon Suk-yeol and Joe Biden later this week in reflection of the growing presence of Korean businesses spending big in the US recently. The US president is scheduled to arrive in Seoul on Friday for his three-day state visit. His summit talks with Yoon are set to be held on Saturday. Even though full details of his itinerary still remain under wraps, expectations ar

May 16, 2022

Women empowerment, net-zero: Hana Financial bolsters ESG efforts

South Korea‘s Hana Financial Group announced Monday its support for the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) and said that it has joined the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, as part of its efforts to bolster ESG value in its management. The WEPs is a joint initiative by UN Women and UN Global Compact to promote women’s empowerment in the workplace and community. Hana said it will expand gender equality in its workplace by providing additional promotion and education opportunities f

May 16, 2022

BOK chief says ‘big-step’ rate hike still on the table

South Korea has yet to arrive at a stage where the option of a “big step” or half a percentage point rate hike can be completely ruled out, with the possibility of higher inflationary pressure looming over the economy, the nation’s central bank chief said Monday. Following his breakfast meeting with Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho, Bank of Korea Gov. Rhee Chang-yong told reporters the uncertainties surrounding Korea’s inflation is keeping the central bank from taking the

May 16, 2022

[Herald Interview] ‘BTS’ military service will have limited impact on KPOP ETF’

When Psy’s supercharged “Gangnam Style” rose to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2012, nobody expected it to spark K-pop’s long-running, global popularity. Exactly a decade later, an Oklahoma-based exchange-traded fund issuer has decided to bring the idea of investing in K-pop-related businesses to the US. “The K-pop movement is still growing here in the US, and we think it is well known enough now that US investors will find this intriguing,” J. Garrett

May 16, 2022

Motorola phones back in Korea after 9-year hiatus

A South Korean budget mobile carrier said on Monday it will introduce two 5G Motorola smartphone models, nine years after the American brand pulled out the mobile business here. Bookings for the new phones, which will be released at the end of this month, can be made at the online mall of LG Hello Mobile. Motorola left the Korean mobile market in December 2012. The new models Edge 20 Lite 5G and Moto G50 5G are priced at 399,000 won and 349,000 won, respectively. The midrange smartphones sup

May 16, 2022